Page:Appleton's Guide to Mexico.djvu/350

322 Tamaulipas yields extensive crops of sugar-cane, barley, maize, wheat, cotton, rice, ixtle and tropical fruits. It also contains excellent grazing-lands. The mules raised in this State are said to be the best in Mexico. There is good farming-land in Northern Vera Cruz. Extensive forests, consisting of a great variety of woods, are found along the route.

Leaving Tuxpan, the railroad will have a southwesterly course through the northern part of the State of Puebla and the southern portion of the State of Hidalgo, after which it will be continued to the District of Mexico. The last-named tract of country possesses valuable silver-mines. The famous ore deposits of Pachuca and Regla, in the southern part of Hidalgo, are described on pages 196, 197. The maguey is planted very extensively in this region. The cereals, brown beans (frijoles), and potatoes are also grown. (Up to November 1, 1883, if our sources of information are correct, no rails have been laid on the road-bed of this railway, although it has been graded in several places.)